A new virus belonging to the same family as the SARS virus that killed 800 people in 2002 has been identified in a Qatari man who had recently been in Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organisation said Sunday.

Rates of women who are opting for preventive mastectomies, such as Angeline Jolie, have increased by an estimated 50 percent in recent years, experts say. But many doctors are puzzled because the operation doesn't carry a 100 percent guarantee, it's major surgery -- and women have other options, from a once-a-day pill to careful monitoring.

It said the U.K. scientists compared gene sequences of the virus from the Qatari patient with samples of virus sequenced by Dutch scientists from lung tissue of a fatal case earlier this year in a 60-year-old Saudi Arabia national. The two were almost identical, it said.

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which includes the common cold and SARS.

"Given that this is a novel coronavirus, WHO is currently in the process of obtaining further information to determine the public health implications," the statement said.

SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, appeared in China in 2002 and killed some 800 people globally before being brought under control.

Peter Openshaw, director of the Centre for Respiratory Infection at Imperial College London, said at this stage the novel virus looked unlikely to prove a concern, and may well only have been identified due to sophisticated testing techniques.

A statement on the HPA's website quoted Professor John Watson, head of its respiratory diseases department, said that "in the light of the severity of the illness ... immediate steps have been taken to ensure that people who have been in contact with the U.K. case have not been infected, and there is no evidence to suggest that they have."

"As we are aware of only two cases worldwide and there is no specific evidence of ongoing transmission, at present there is no specific advice for the public or returning travellers to take but we will share any further advice with the public as soon as more information becomes available," he added.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Video: Taking precautions to prevent contagion

Closed captioning of: Taking precautions to prevent contagion

>>as you may know, there was a scare at chicago midwear airport.
emergency vehicles
surrounded a delta flight that had come in from detroit. it was kept on the tarmac while the passengers were quarantined as a precaution. turned out to be a false alarm, but it's a good reminder of what is supposed to happen in a situation like that. our report from nbc's kevin tibbles.

>>two and a half hours of
high anxiety
for passengers onboard delta flight 3163.

>>a bit of panic. everyone was pulling their shirts over their faces.

>>panic over concerns a passenger onboard the flight to m midway had contracted
monkey pox
on a trip to africa.

>>they're bringing a guy on wearing a mask to evaluate one of the passengers.

>>the jet was quarantined on the runway, surrounded by emergency personnel.

>>two men came on. with
protective gear
. they spoke with the passenger in question. they took photographs.

>>the passenger, lisa sievers, had been in uganda and picked up nasty
bed bug
bites but fortunately, not
monkey pox
.

>>other than itching, i feel fine.

>>if she would have been seriously ill.

>>she would have pin taken to a hospital, made attempts to make a rapid diagnose.

>>and those on the plane would have been instructed to follow certain health guidelines. being able to respond quickly and efficiently is vital to the containment of
contagious disease
. the outbreak of the
sars virus
,
bird flu
, and
swine flu
have seen health officials and travelers worldwide taking extra precautions.

>>vaccination strategies are available to prevent menno of the diseases people are exposed to. good
hand hygiene
, careful food precaution.

>>lisa is just thankful her fellow passengers understood.

>>the passengers were there for two hours and didn't complain.

>>while the system may not have bib needed at midway, it's in place for when it is. kevin tibbles, nbc news, chicago.